SAN FRANCISCO, May 14, (THEWILL) – Former Premier League referee, Mark Clattenburg, has listed former Super Eagles captain, John Mikel Obi, among the five most annoying players he refereed in his career.
“I have picked Mikel because of the incident during a Chelsea v Manchester United match in 2012 when he accused me of making a racist comment, which was not right and I was later cleared by the FA,” Clattenburg told the Daily Mail.
He added: “He has never apologised and that is disappointing because it could have ruined my life. I fell out of love with refereeing for a while after that but couldn’t quit because I had a family to support and no other career to pursue.
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“It all left a bad feeling that still lingers today. Mikel only heard the allegation from his team-mate, Ramires, who did not speak English. Other Chelsea players have since apologised but nothing from Mikel.”
Other players he listed are: Craig Bellamy, Roy Keane, Jens Lehman and Pepe.
THEWILL reports the claims were made against the former FIFA official after Manchester United’s 3-2 win at Stamford Bridge in 2012. Clattenburg was later cleared of all charges and Mikel handed a three-game ban for confronting the official in his changing room.
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